Artisan Bread

4 Ingredient No Fail No Knead Artisan Bread that’s easy and delicious! Perfect for those who love freshly home baked bread right out of the oven.

Long ago, I discovered that it’s more fun to make bread myself without a bread machine. I do have my good old trusted KitchenAid mixer which I cannot live without and for this bread, I made the dough with the mixer. You don’t have to but it’s a lot easier.

Now I cannot tell you how easy this bread is to make, and with only 4 ingredients. Beat that!

This is very simple, no kneading required. In a medium bowl add the lukewarm water, it has to be a bit warmer than body temperature, add the salt and the yeast and stir together. In the bowl of your mixer add all the flour and the pour the yeast mixture over the flour. Using the dough hook mix it all together. The dough will be sticky so don’t be tempted to add more flour.

Now you can place the dough in a big plastic container with a lid, but do not close the lid completely, leave one corner open a bit. Or you can just place it in a big bowl and wrap it up really well with plastic wrap and poke a couple small holes with a toothpick so that the gases can escape a little. Let it rise in a warm place for a good two hours.

Since there’s no kneading required, all you have to do is shape your bread, but because the dough is really sticky you need to flour your hands really well. Basically you have to divide the dough in two and shape each piece. Again add as much flour as necessary to your hands to avoid dough from sticking. It is ideal to bake this bread on a stone, but if you do not have a stone you can just use a regular baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Shape the dough and place it seam down on the baking sheet or stone. Sprinkle some more flour on top. You need to let the bread rest for another 30 minutes so that it rises a bit more.

Preheat the oven to 450 F degrees. Before placing the bread in the oven, slash the top of your bread with a knife, it will make your bread look pretty, plus it will allow for the trapped gases to escape. Also place a pan with a cup of water in it and slide it in the bottom rack and the bread on the middle rack. As the water heats up in the oven, it will create steam which will give the bread that nice crusty top. Trust me, you will want to do this. Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes and let it cool completely before cutting into it. I know it’s hard, I love hot bread, just the thought of it now, makes me crave it.

In a medium bowl add the warm water, salt and yeast and stir together.

In the bowl of your mixer add all the flour, then pour the yeast mixture over the flour and mix using the dough hook of your mixer, until it's all well incorporated.

Place the dough in a large plastic container, it needs room to rise, and put the lid on it, but do not close completely, there needs to be one corner left open to let the gases escape. Alternatively, you can use a large bowl, covered well with plastic wrap and poke a couple small holes in the top using toothpicks.

Let the dough rise for 2 hours.

The dough will be very sticky and elastic. It is recommended to bake this on a stone, however a regular baking sheet will work just fine. Cover the baking sheet, or stone with parchment paper.

Add flour to your hands, and divide the dough in two pieces. Add more flour to your hands as necessary. Shape the dough into the desired shape for your bread and place it seam down on the baking sheet. Sprinkle some more flour on top of the loaves. Let the loaves rest for another 30 minutes so that they can rise a bit.

Preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Before placing the bread in the oven, add a pan with a cup of water and place it in the bottom rack. Slash the top of your bread, to allow gases to escape.

Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes. The water will allow for the bread to form a nice crusty top.

Cool on a rack before serving.

Recipe Notes

Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn't expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.

To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.

Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.

One thing to remember about your yeast, is that it is a living organism and over time it will lose activity, even if you’ve never opened the jar or package. So if you don’t bake often, buy the smaller yeast packages rather than a big jar of yeast.

How do I know when my bread is done baking: Tap the bottom! Take the bread out of the Dutch oven, turn it upside down and give the bottom a firm thump with your thumb, or a knock and if it sounds hollow it's done.

Recipe will yield 2 loaves. Nutritional information assumes 10 slices per loaf and is per slice.

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

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Just made this! Delicious! Two questions though. First if I omit the pan of water in the oven will my top crust be softer? And secondly do you have any eeconendations for letting dough rise in a cooler kitchen? Thanks in advance!

Can I freeze these after I bake them to thaw out and warm up in the oven? Have you tried that with these? I loved making them it just took a lot of my time out of my day and would love to make them ahead of time for my busy week?

Hi Jo, I made this bread and followed the recipe except for a small glitch. When I was letting the bread rest before the oven, i put parchment paper over top of it because I didn’t want to put a towel directly on the dough. The parchment paper stuck to it so when it was time to put it in over I had to pull the paper off and reshape it. When it cam out of the oven it had shaped itself oddly (which I can live with). But when cut into slices, it felt very heavy in the center white part. I think I left it in too long because the crust was hard to cut through. Maybe I totally screwed up your recipe? Sorry but what can I do better next time?

Thank yo for responding Joanna, I appreciate it. I did sprinkle a bit but maybe not enough. Also I think I may have a “hot” oven so perhaps I need to lower it a bit from your temperature. I usually have to for other dishes. I will keep trying. It was good tasting. Thank you.

I made this bread today and it came out great! It was my first time ever making bread and I was really nervous about it, but it was super easy and really tasty! I think next time I’ll halve the recipe because it made two large loaves and I only need one at a time, really.

I make this bread exactly the recipe reads and the bread turned out awesome.

I just finished making it again but added a little more water and used a lessor amount of salt. Used 1/2 whole wheat and white flour. I the added added sunflower, sesame and flax seeds and oats to the flour. It turned out wonderful and so tasty with all the seed flavours. I set my oven at 425o. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you